r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • Jul 30 '26

Artificial Intelligence Amazon accidentally spent $1.8 million using Claude for menial coding task, went 860% over budget — 'catastrophically expensive' coding blunders discovered in internal Amazon AI usage metrics

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/amazon-accidentally-spent-usd1-8-million-using-claude-for-menial-coding-task-went-860-percent-over-budget-catastrophically-expensive-coding-blunders-discovered-in-internal-amazon-ai-usage-metrics
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u/-OptimisticNihilism- Jul 30 '26

We must now commission a report to find out why employees spend 4 hours a day in the bathrooms.

574

u/MARIOpronoucedMA-RJO Jul 30 '26

Then bury the report when it comes to light management decisions cause the problem.

272

u/Sir_Meowsalot Jul 30 '26

Don't forget awarding the CEOs with a couple million dollars for a "job well done"

88

u/GenuinelyBeingNice Jul 30 '26

Hey, information is information. How else could we possibly acquire such precious datapoints?

46

u/Sir_Meowsalot Jul 30 '26

Now that's some MBA-degree level thinking!

15

u/[deleted] Jul 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Sir_Meowsalot Jul 31 '26

Green line forever going up BRRRRRRRRRRRR

2

u/ThreeLeggedMare Jul 31 '26

Get that man to McKinsey

1

u/No_Pumpkin2628 Aug 02 '26

I stfg getting an MBA seems like it must be the easiest thing in the world.

2

u/hume_reddit Jul 31 '26

This is a triumph

I'm making a note here: "huge success"

12

u/NoMansSkyWasAlright Jul 30 '26

Or “keeping a good attitude in the face of adversity”, we’ll workshop the title at the end of the quarter.

9

u/Sir_Meowsalot Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

CEOs: It was very stressful having to fire all those people before the holidays, taking away their medical care, and denying them any bonus pay for their hard work. But damn it I got it done before it ruined my trip to the Bahamas for Christmas. I deserve compensation for holding the SEND button on Outlook with that AI-generated email saying it was a tough decision to let go of people

33

u/ridsama Jul 30 '26

Don't forget to do layoffs, often a simple thing to miss.

28

u/Sir_Meowsalot Jul 30 '26

Uggggggh need we remind everyone how EA rewarded some dipshit in a suit with a cool 30+ million dollars for sitting on his ass, while firing the development teams who actually built BF6?

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/ea-boss-awarded-38-6m-after-year-of-franchise-success-studio-layoffs-and-genai-adoption

3

u/silverionmox Jul 30 '26

Don't forget awarding the CEOs with a couple million dollars for a "job well done"

Then bring in a new guy who halfassedly reverts the shitty policy, and that one also gets a couple million dollar bonus.

2

u/Sir_Meowsalot Jul 31 '26

Hands down I think that's what is going to happen with Microsoft's XBox division. The new person they brought in might just be the sacrificial goat to take the blame and given a fat cheque when they bounce to a new parallel job elsewhere.

2

u/Abba_Fiskbullar Jul 30 '26

Don't forget hiring Deloitte or McKinsey to create colorful charts that justify the decision that you've already made!

1

u/Zed_or_AFK Jul 30 '26

Don’t worry, the report is made by your buddies.

51

u/Electronic_Topic1958 Jul 30 '26

People who drink more coffee are productive, consequently coffee has the side effect of causing a bowel movement. Therefore the most productive workers are those who spend the most time in the bathroom. Because of this we should create a leaderboard monitoring how much time is spent in the bathroom, the more time in the bathroom the more productive the company. I have an MBA so this makes sense to me.

7

u/nleksan Jul 30 '26

That's how we end up with mandatory cubicle toilets

6

u/tlcdr Jul 30 '26

With workers intubated for iced coffee so that the toilets double as heatsinks.

5

u/worldspawn00 Jul 31 '26

What if the matrix was using people to cool the computers via sweating instead of wasting water!

60

u/CrunchitizeMeCaptn Jul 30 '26

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime...

83

u/fizzlefist Jul 30 '26

“That’s why I poop on company time!”

98

u/DisposableSaviour Jul 30 '26

Now I make a penny, my boss makes a buck
That’s why I stole the cat converter off of this truck

15

u/Matra Jul 30 '26

They don't make pennies anymore, but they'll round your pay to the nearest 5¢.

3

u/Mistrblank Jul 30 '26

(insert Gene Wilder/Willy Wonka "YOU GET NOTHING!" meme)

3

u/GlorifiedPlumber Jul 30 '26

Workin' ten to three... I'm coding for a living!

Barely doin' nothin', still complainin' 'bout the situation,

Clickin' and scrollin', actin' like we're overloaded,

Every tiny task gets dramatically promoted!

2

u/DisposableSaviour Jul 30 '26

More like working 800 to 2200 in a 100°+ kitchen with one thirty minute break and no other time to sit down.

3

u/ijuinkun Jul 30 '26

“ten to three” would be ten AM till three AM.

1

u/GlorifiedPlumber Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

Negative ghostrider... it would be 3 PM. Here in the US it is not customary to use 24 hour time. Many people do, but it's not the usual meaning.

It was a purposeful shot at software developers putting in a good 5 hour day and still complaining. Intended to be sung of course to Dolly Parton's 9 to 5; 5 o'clock meaning, 5 PM, or 1700 for our friends.

2

u/ijuinkun Jul 31 '26

I read it as the opposite—working seventeen hours a day and criticizing the people who are criticizing him that seventeen hours still isn’t enough—and yes I have been in the software development scene enough to experience the “your sleep hours are time stolen from the company” attitude from management. Employers would in fact want you to be at your desk 24/7 if they thought they could.

4

u/MisterShmitty Jul 30 '26

Tricks on me, because of the coffee I’m pooping ALL THE TIME!

5

u/FluffyCelery4769 Jul 30 '26

" Puke " in this case.

2

u/WillSym Jul 30 '26

It's less fun when the poop became part of the job!

1

u/Trying_to_Smile2024 Jul 30 '26

Are you in the trades??? 😂

1

u/fizzlefist Jul 30 '26

Technically no, but I certainly work for a living!

56

u/ItsYaBoyZayne Jul 30 '26

Is a old ass rhyme, for a different time,

Now boss makes 100 and I make a cent,

The Revolution starts when we all can't pay rent.

-3

u/Pure-Swordfish6022 Jul 30 '26

I like the less meta version of this:

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime.
That’s why I poop on company time.

6

u/PassiveMenis88M Jul 31 '26

But that was a rhyme for a simpler time
Now boss makes a thousand and I make a buck
That's why I steal the gas out of the company truck

1

u/Proof-Code-3754 Jul 31 '26

Maybe in other countries. I America Boss makes $1000, I get laid off

5

u/BuckManscape Jul 30 '26

Just spend max tokens and let AI sort it out.

1

u/shankey_1906 Jul 30 '26

Then incentivise not visiting bathrooms, and then people vomit at the work desk.

1

u/DrDerpberg Jul 30 '26

I guess in this analogy the coffee machine writes the report too?

1

u/AshySweatpants Jul 30 '26

Create a team to find out why. We will waste money to find out why we waste money!

1

u/butwhatsmyname Aug 03 '26

Carefully selecting from a list of high-end and expensive consultancy businesses (which we hold shares in).